Anthony Martial slams ‘traitor’ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ‘disrespectful’ Jose Mourinho over their Manchester United reigns

Anthony Martial has slammed Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for how they treated him during their spells at Manchester United.

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After an impressive debut season at United under Louis van Gaal, Martial was unable to kick on during Jose Mourinho’s reign and the Portuguese had no hesitation in criticising the French forward.

In 2018, Mourinho said that Martial lacked ‘maturity’ and named him among the players he felt acted like ‘spoilt kids’, while after his sacking, Mourinho said he felt that the 26-year-old wanted to play as a striker ‘for the wrong reasons’.

But Martial has now accused Mourinho of not respecting him and admits he was hurt by the decision to strip him of United’s No.9 shirt following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival in 2016.

In an interview with France Football, Martial said: ‘It started with the story of the shirt number.

‘During the holidays, he [Mourinho] sent me a message to ask if I want to change to the No.11, explaining to me that it is great because it was worn by Ryan Giggs, a club legend.

‘I tell him that I have the greatest respect for Giggs but I prefer to keep the No.9. When I returned to the club, I see my name with the No.11, the story did not end well. He [Mourinho] lacked direct respect for me.

‘He talked about me in the press, little phrases, a bit like he had done with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He likes these little games, but he also knows who he is doing it with.

‘He knows that I am then 20 years old, that if I say something, it is I who will pass for the young person who lacks respect.

‘So I said nothing, it was useless. The following season, I was the best in the team in the first part of the season, he brought in Alexis Sanchez and there